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ADDRESS 



BY 



DANIEL ULLMANN, ESQ. 



DELIVERED AT 



THE BROADWAY TABERNACLE, NEW YORK. 



0« ^Ae 22J 0/ February, 1841. 



AN ADDRESS 

DELIVERED IN THE TABERNACLE, BEFORE THE 

3X0 
TIPPECANOE -^J"^ 

AND OTHER 

HARRISON ASSOCIATIONS, 

OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, 

AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 

ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH DAY OF WASHINGTON, 

AND THE RECENT TRIUMPH OF SOUND PRlNCirLES, 
IN THE ELECTION OF 

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, 

TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE U. S. FEB'Y 22, 1841. 
BY 

DANIEL ULLMANN, 

K 



^0 NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED FOR THE ASSOCIATIONS. 

1841. 



t: 






New York, 23 February, 1S41, 

Daniel Ullmann, Esq. 

Sir, — Believing llial we express the wish of all who hud the 
satisfaction' of hearing the Oration deliverer! by you, on the late 
Anniversary of the Birth-day of Washington, we respectfully solicit 
a copy of the same for publication, at an early day. 
Very Respectfully, 
Yours, &c. 

HUGH MAXWELL, Pres. 
SAMUEL L. RAYMOND, Chairman Democratic Gen. Com. 
BENJAMIN DRAKE, Chairman Young Men's Demo. Gen. Com. 
P. W. ENGS, in behalf of the Harrison Associations. 



New York, February 26, 1841. 
Gentlemen : 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communica- 
tion of the 24th inst., requesting for publication, a copy of the 
Address delivered by me on the late Anniversary of the Birth-day of 
Washington. 

The Address was hastily prepared in the midst of severe profes- 
sional engagements ; but believing ihal a dissemination, at this 
lime, of the sentiments contained in it, would not be without advan- 
tage, I have determined to place the same at your disposal. 
With great respect, 

I am, Gentlemen, 

Your Obd't Servant, 

DANIEL ULLMANN. 
To Messrs. Hugh Maxwell, 

Samuel L. Raymond, 
Benjamin Drake, and 
P. W. Engs. 



ADDRESS. 



Fellow Citizens, 

The sacred anniyersary we have convened to 
celebrate has been so recently preceded by great 
political events, that it is scarcely possible, were it 
even desirable, to exclude the consideration of 
those events from the reflections inspired by the 
day. The struggle for political power, which so 
lately agitated millions, has already died away, and 
as well in the vigor with which it was maintained 
as in the quiet which has succeeded it, displays the 
excellence of the Institutions bequeathed to us by 
the Father of our Country. The administration of 
the great offices of the State has been wrested from 
the reluctant grasp of one party and transferred to 
their antagonists ; but without the destruction of 
property, the disturbance of peaceful industry, the 
effusion of blood, or any of those multiplied evils 
and distresses which generally characterise Euro- 
pean revolutions. True, the conflict was fierce 
and, in the view of timid minds, fearful. The pub- 
lic press teemed with earnest argument — with 



spirit-stirring eloquence — and alas ! with harsh and 
measureless denunciation. Heated discussion was 
rife throughout the land ; on the highway, in the 
public place — amid the scenes of toiling industry, 
and in the purlieus of greedy avarice. It even 
desecrated the family altar. On a thousand hills — 
in a thousand valleys — beneath the spacious dome 
— and under the broad canopy of heaven, myriads 
of freemen met to ponder upon the destinies of the 
nation — to listen to the voice of eloquence — to train 
their reason and their passions for a noble effort in 
the cause of truth. As the crisis approached the 
contest became fearfully intense ; the sounds of 
strife seemed to become angry — fierce — vindictive 
— and one who had little faith in the high destiny 
for which Providence has reserved this people, 
might well have feared that a whirlwind of civil fury 
was about to overwhelm our government. How 
could the contest be otherwise than sublime, when 
millions of freemen raised each his equal voice, and 
uplifted his free right hand, himself, among his 
fellows, an independent arbiter of the destiny of a 
nation ! But the voice of the multitude was 
gathered and when its mandate was ascertained 
the floods of faction subsided into their secret 
places ; the tempest broke away and the sunshine 
of peace ushered in, as we trust, a long and glorious 
day. Let our hearts be filled with gratitude to 



the living God, who hath wrouglit this wonder 
among us. Let them also turn with reverence and 
affection to the memory of Him, to whose wisdom, 
under Providence, we owe these benefits, and to 
whose name this day is consecrated. 

Those among us, whose dearest and most anxious 
hopes have at last been realized by the result of 
the recent contest, cannot doubt that a great 
revolution has occurred. The nation has turned a 
scrutinising eye inward. Like a wise man, it has 
taken counsel with itself, and utterred its voice. 
The sentiment of justice and truth, deeply implanted 
in the heart of the nation, awaking into action amid 
the free inhabitants of the lowly cabin, and urged 
onward by the uncorrupted and incorruptible 
impulse of a gallant people, starting forth from 
every vale and descending from every hill top, has 
stamped with significant reprobation the principles 
and policy of their -public servants, and commanded 
that the powers of the State shall be transferred to 
other, and more worthy hands. 

The battle has been fought — the victory won. 
Something of exultation may be pardoned in the 
hour of victory ; but let there be no unseemly 
rejoicing over the vanquished. Let more sober 
feelings fill the breast of victors. Let power be 
tempered with justice and benevolence. Let us 
feel the responsibility of power, while we enjoy its 



possession. Let us regard all as sharers with us of 
this comnjon inheritance — as partakers, equally 
with us, of the glory and welfare of this great 
nation. 

The Romans guarded with religious care the 
sacred books obtained by Tarquin from the Cumsean 
Sybil. When danger threatened the State they 
consulted those mysterious and prophetic records, 
as containing the oracles of their fate, with the most 
imposing religious ceremonies. He, whose name 
has given eternal honor to this day — whose glory 
outshines that of Tarquin or any of his proud 
successors, hath left to us a richer legacy than the 
leaves of the Cumsean prophetess. We have this 
day heard it read. We have consulted the sacred 
relic — not indeed amid the pomp of a Roman 
Senate ; but with a more sublime ceremony — amid 
the expressive and enlightened reverence of a free 
People. 

In these, the farewell words of the illustrious 
Father of our Country, he dwells with peculiar earn- 
estness on the evils to our Government to be appre- 
hended from the organization of parties, and he 
warns us " in the most solemn manner against the 
baneful effects of the spirit of party." A triumphant 
party — a party sustaining the high responsibility of 
administering the government — it well behooves to 
ponder carefully, in the outset of its policy, the calm 



advice of this departed sage ; and it will comport, 1 
trust, with the solemnity of this anniversary and with 
the coincidence of our present political triumph, to 
dwell at this time upon one of the most prominent 
evils which flow from all combinations for political 
action ; the tyranny which they too often usurp over 
the 7'ightf III exercise of individual judgment, and the 
free expression of individual opinions. 

The existence of parties is inevitable in every 
community whose constituent members have the 
right to take a part in the administration of its affairs. 
The solitary individual has but little power. He 
combines with those who agree with him in opinions 
and interests, in order to bring the united force of 
numbers to the aid of their common objects. This 
constitutes a sect or party. The existence of parties 
is, therefore, a sure index of the exercise of indi- 
vidual opinions ; or in other words, a peculiar 
characteristic of free institutions. The wise states- 
man will aim, therefore, not to eradicate them, which 
in a free state is impossible, but, to mitigate their 
evils and direct their force to the good of the state. 

The unrestricted exercise of the right of private 
judgment is the essence of protestantism in religious 
matters and of democracy in matters political. 
When this right exists, an ever active principle of 
progress and improvement pervades the whole com- 
munity. When this right is withheld by ty- 



10 

ranny the dead tranquillity of ignorance forever 
reigns. 

In some nations we observe no change — no advance 
— no improvement ; in others we see a constant ten- 
dency to change — to advance — to improve. In the 
east — in Asia — society is in a stationary condition. 
From ao^e to age it wears the same forms. The 
same views of man and of his condition here and 
hereafter are transmitted from generation to genera- 
tion. The institutions of one period are identical 
with those of another. Society seems to have been 
cast into a mould, and like solid metal, preserves 
the form unchanged. Such as they were thirty cen- 
turies ago, they now are. Each man pursues the 
occupation of his father. He never supposes it pos- 
sible for him to change it. If the ancestor was a tiller 
of the soil three thousand years ago, his descendants 
are still found to be in the same grade and condition. 

In ancient Egypt, the son was even compelled by 
the law to follow the vocation of his father — regard- 
less of the ever varying wants of society. In such 
communities, desolating wars may sweep their plains 
— pestilence may ravage their cities — thrones and 
dynasties may be destroyed ,and their very names 
be forgotten — but the races that rise up and succeed 
to their places perpetually assume the same forms. 
Fame is silent on the subject of their revolutions. 
They have no history, that is worthy of the name. 



11 

We regard them as an undistinguished and undis- 
tinguishable mass. It is one uniform — dead level. 
No one rises above that level and becomes indi- 
vidualised. Generation after generation is born, 
lives and dies, and leaves no trace behind it. In 
these motionless and uninteresting communities the 
right of the individual to form his ow^n opinions 
and to exercise a personal influence in the religious 
and political control of the country has no existence. 
The mind of one tyrant, or at the best, of a few 
nobles, directs the faith and practice of the whole 
mass. The millions neither think nor act out of 
their ancient routine, nor do they improve. The 
strength of intellect lies dormant in the breast of 
the subject. It is neither active in his own behalf 
except within some grovelling range, nor in behalf 
of the public weal. There may be in such nations 
the physical power of numbers but not the sublime 
moral power of numberless, active minds. The 
individual has no energy of character, no active 
principle of progressive improvement; and the 
combination of all the mass results in nothina but 
brute force. No parties exist, for parties spring 
from the co-operation of active minds in the pursuit 
of the same object. The nation may be peaceful and 
united, but their union is the blending of ignorance 
and stupidity ; alike undistinguishable in its separate 
or combined condition ; while the union of enlight- 



12 

ened minds, is like the pure light produced by the 
commingling of the prismatic rays. 

Let us turn to a different scene; a people in which 
private intelligence has full scope for developement, 
and where each man may form and express his 
own opinions and strive to give them universal 
diffusion. 

Enter Europe — pass from Asiainto ancient Greece 
— and behold how striking is the contrast. There 
society exhibited perpetual change and constantly 
assumed new forms. Its external symbols were 
ever shadowing forth some new conception, — some 
progress in thought — some recent accession of ideas ; 
— its ever varying condition gave new expression to 
some spiritual movement ; — change, advance, im- 
provement, were stamped upon every generation. 

Here then is the developement of two great 
principles in the organization of society which have 
had more to do with fashioning the destiny of man 
than all others. The one is the principle of immo- 
bility — the other of progress. The one gives free 
scope and developement to that love of power which 
is deeply seated in the corruptions of the human 
heart ; the other is the developement of that latent 
consciousness, which belongs to every mind, of 
having been formed by God for noble and glorious 
ends — of possessing faculties, capable of receiving 
the highest cultivation and of yielding the most cer- 



13 

tain and the most exalted enjoyment; that inner 
striving after something better which constitutes 
one of the strongest arguments of the immortaHty 
of the soul ; that intense desire to be equal to his 
fellow man, to enjoy the same happiness, to receive 
the same cultivation, and to occupy the same rank 
in the scale of being. Where the former organiza- 
tion of society prevails, one man, or a few indi- 
viduals, rule and direct all. The King — Sultan — 
Emperor — Rajah — Mogul — or by whatever name 
he is known, has unlimited power over the labor — 
the property and the lives of the mass. They live 
only for him ; he is all ; they nothing. He is legis- 
lator — judge — executive — all the powers of society 
emanate from, and are centered in him. 

Where the other principle has entered — the 
principle of individual opinion and action — we find 
every scale ascending from the first state to that 
where the functions and powers of government are 
diffused over and exercised by the whole body of 
the people, in exact proportion to the extent of the 
diffusion of the principle. 

These two principles in the organization of com- 
munities are at war with each other. They cannot 
co-exist in the same place without collision. Unless 
one greatly prevails there must be strife. I sup- 
pose the Grecian poet had them in view when he 
said; 



14 

" Two Strifes ou earth, of soul divided, rove : 
The wise will this condemn and that approve : 
Accursed, the one spreads misery from afar, 
And stirs up discord and pernicious war ; 
Men love not this ; yet heaven-enforced maintain 
The strife abhorr'd, but still abhorr'd in vain. 
The other elder rose from darksome night : 
The God high throned, who dwells in ether's light, 
Fix'd deep in earth, and centred midst mankind 
This better Strife which fires the slothful mind."* 

From the opposition of these two principles have 
sprung most, if not all of the wars which have 
desolated the earth. From them have sprung all 
the civil factions which have divided nations. 
Whatever may be the alleged and apparent reason, 
on analysis, it will be found to have a near or remote, 
but certain connection with the contest that must 
inevitably be waged between these two principles, 
until the one or the other be extinguished. 

When the great Drama of authentic profane his- 
tory first opens upon us, we find Asia gathering her 
millions to descend upon and overwhelm Greece. 
These wars — the details of which are read wath so 
much delight in youth, were the collisions of the spirit 
of the East, and of the spirit of the West — the princi- 
ple of immobility, and the principle of progress — the 
principle of tyranny extinguishing intelligence in 
the mass, and the principle of diffused individual 
thought and knowledge. Millions of men perished 

* Hesiod. 



15 

in these struggles — the energies and resources of 
mighty nations were exhausted, until at last, the 
spirit of the West was victorious under Alexander 
the Great at the battle of Arbela : — a battle which 
in the opinion of a distinguished modern philoso- 
pher, rendered the day on which it was achieved 
the most important day in history. And truly, it 
was a contest pregnant with consequences of tre- 
mendous importance to the interests of mankind. 
The question to be settled, was whether the spirit 
of immobility should conquer Europe, and infuse its 
deadly torpor into her society, and her nations be- 
come mere imitations of the East; or whether the 
armies of Asia should be driven back, and the West 
go on in that glorious career of progress, the results 
of which, like the first rays of the morning sun, were 
then just dawning in all their splendor and power 
upon mankind. 

In most countries neither of these principles is 
completely ascendant ; but in each they co-exist 
with different degrees of influence. If the spirit of 
immobility has greatly the ascendancy, as it has had 
in most nations in all ages, the other is subdued, 
and rarely exhibits itself in external expression, 
except at long intervals, when it bursts out in blind 
insurrections and popular tumults. The ancient 
condition of Rome exhibits this perpetual conflict 
of antagonist principles ; and a history of that 



16 

commonwealth so written, as to develope these 
conflicts, would be one of the most valuable presents 
literature could make to political science. Her 
organization admitted to some extent the exercise 
of democratic rights, while it also provided for 
oppressive privileged orders. The whole popula- 
tion was divided into patricians, knights and 
plebeians. The spirit of progress had been infused 
into all these classes ; but had by no means the 
ascendancy ; the patricians, as is usually the case, 
strove to repress the practical exercise of popular 
power and intelligence. They wished to preserve 
the existing forms of society ; because thereby they 
secured the ascendancy and gratified their love of 
power. On the other hand, as the people exercised 
their minds in judging of public policy, they 
struggled to enlarge their franchises, and asserted 
their claim to a larger share in the administration of 
the commonwealth. The more enlightened among 
them saw the unnumbered benefits which would 
flow from elevating the whole body of the people to 
a higher rank in intelligence and morality ;— and to 
produce this result, they strove to extend their 
political rights. Here then was the germ of the 
social contests with which the history of Rome 
teems. The eloquence of the Gracchi aroused the 
hearts of the people to some sense of the power of 
this sublime principle of human progress. For 



17 

nearly a century Italy was torn by the contentions 
of these two forces striving for the mastery. This 
mighty nation, which under the impulse of this very 
principle of progress, had subjugated almost every 
known nation, was in her turn by its blind, but 
irresistible power, rent with civil feuds, torn by 
intestine commotions, and her people slaughtered 
in myriads on a hundred battle fields. 

Thus it has ever been, when knowledge and 
moral control have not accompanied the impulse of 
this mighty agent. Its disciples too often rush 
blindly on without regarding existing institutions ; 
their cry is for change — sudden, rapid, change. 

But great and sudden changes in a state are 
usually attended by great evils. The building up 
of a well compacted government is the labour of 
years ; and all modifications except in extreme 
cases should be slow and gradual. It is hazardous to 
rush from one extreme to the other. In striving 
for the most licentious liberty, a nation often bends 
its neck to the thraldom of the severest despotism. 
So, in Rome, Marius trod in the footsteps of the 
Gracchi, but instead of seeking to elevate the people 
he strove only to destroy their oppressors and to 
aggrandize himself Pompey followed him, and 
became the representative of the spirit' of the East ; 
— as his great antagonist Caesar was the champion 

of the spirit of the West. Pharsalia decided the 
3 



18 

contest. But Caesar, in vindicating this glorious 
principle, like his great modern imitator, became 
also the master, not of it, but of those who had 
blindly followed it. Again, the old order were 
roused. They saw themselves mixed up with the 
mass ; and in a last effort, Brutus and his fellow 
conspirators, with their daggers, destroyed the 
representative of the opposing principle. They 
crushed him, but they could not crush it. He was 
of a day — but it is of all time. 

The more modern history of England opens upon 
us with a King on the throne, surrounded with some 
hundred barons or lords who were the holders of 
the offices of the Kingdom and the owners of the 
soil ; a few freemen in the cities and towns ; and 
the whole of the rest of the nation slaves — serfs — 
vassals — or, as they were termed, villeins. We find 
a contest raging, not between the people and the 
King, but between the Barons and the throne. 
The people as such, had nothing to do with it. 
The Barons at Runnymede, sword in hand, wrested 
from Kins; John the great charter ; but, the 
beneficial provisions of this celebrated compact did 
not then include the great mass of the people. It 
only secured privileges and rights to the Barons, 
and a lew freemen in the towns and cities. It 
names freemen — but this term did not include the 
people — they were slaves — villeins. These same 



19 

Barons have received far more honor in the world 
than they deserve. It was not their intention to 
bring the great body of the people within the 
beneficial terms of the Great Charter. Their object 
was self aggrandisement — the gratification of the 
love of power — not the elevation of the mass. It 
was only by subsequent events that these were 
brought within the scope of its protection. It was 
in producing this result that contests sprang up and 
were fomented. Those who held the power — 
owned the soil — received and disbursed the revenues 
of the kingdom and enjoyed its honors, strove to 
sustain the Asiatic principle. They wished not to 
diffuse political rights —to teach the individual to 
think and act, and thus to secure to others the same 
advantages with themselves. But thousands had 
espoused the opposite principle. The doctrines of 
the divine right of the king to reign, and of passive 
obedience, were acted upon and prevailed ; but in 
the hearts of thousands were sown the seeds of 
opposition to these dogmas — these dogmas, which 
are the very essence of the principle of immobility. 
Hence the origin of popular progress and of parties 
in England. If time allowed, this constant strueele 
of the few against the many — of the Tory against 
the Whig— of the Monarchist against the Republican 
— could be readily traced through all their subse- 
quent history. 



20 

The kingdom of France rose from the union of 
a number of dukedoms and principalities. For a 
long period that country was agitated by the con- 
tentions of the dukes and counts on one side and 
the King on the other, who was but little more than 
their feudal superior. Finally, they were all ab- 
sorbed by the central power at Paris, and the most 
despotic government in Europe was consolidated. 
All powers were centred in the Monarch. The 
offices and honors of the nation were distributed 
only by his hand. The revenues and treasures 
were collected and disbursed exclusively by his 
officers. When Louis XIV exclaimed " The State ! 
I am the State !" He uttered a sentiment that was 
strictly and literally true. The Eastern principle 
of immobility prevailed and ruled the nation. The 
King and his officers amounting to a few thousands, 
were everything — while the twenty five millions 
below them were nothing. But the spirit of pro- 
gress entered and obtained a foothold. It had been 
long at work — blindly — ignorantly — but powerfully. 
At last, when the oppressions of the system were 
no longer endurable, it broke out in that revolution, 
the memory of which will endure so long as history 
shall remain. But, France was too corrupt : — the 
oppressions of ages had heaped up so high a moun- 
tain of injustice, extortion, and suffering, that in 
heaving the huge mass from its centre, they tore up 



2.1 

the foundations of society — burst asunder the Hnks 
which bind man to man and in a whirlwind of fury 
and madness hurled the whole into an abyss of ruin 
and desolation. 

From this cursory view then, we see that the 
collision of these two principles of the East and of 
the West has been operating for thousands of years : 
— it was their collision which produced the wars 
of the Greeks and the Persians : — it was their 
collision which produced the wars that desolated 
Europe during the former part of this century. 
Bonaparte led the armies of the party of progress ; 
but like his prototype, Caesar, proved recreant to the 
principle, and became the master of those who 
followed his banners. 

But where did this glorious principle first obtain 
a form and a tangible shape before the eyes of man ? 
Where was it first acknowledged by a great people 
as the living element of their organization I — It had 
existed for ages in the hearts of men — there swell- 
ing, agitating, and impelling them blindly by its 
mighty power; now rousing them to violent action, 
now driving them in desperation to seek repose in 
despotism. For this they have involved the earth 
in wars, devastated countries, burnt cities, and 
at its shrine, as at the altar of an unknown God, 
offered up whole hecatombs of human lives. But 
where did it spring into life in all its original beauty 



22 

and full of intelligence and power 1 On the sum- 
mit of Bunke?- Hill. The war cry of that eventful 
struggle awoke a nation from its lethargy ; brought 
into action the living principles of truth in every 
breast, and made that a practical foundation of 
political society which had hitherto only been 
discussed and explained in the theories of philoso- 
phers. 

If the battle of Arbela was the most important 
battle in ancient history then may the modern 
battle of Bunker Hill fairly take rank by its side. It 
is true that the millions of Asia were not there — the 
mail-clad legions — the comparisoned horse — the 
war-chariot and the armed elephant — and the mar- 
tial pomp and emblazonry of ancient and magnifi- 
cent Persia ; — nor was the invincible Macedonian 
Phalanx there with its great captain, the conqueror 
on an hundred fields. Nor was it only a few soldiers 
of Britain contending with a few husbandmen gath- 
ered hastily from the furrow and the fireside. But 
it was the shock of the East and of the West. And 
amidst the roar of artillery and the shout of battle, 
were hovering near unseen, the spirits of ancient 
patriots who suffered for the rights of man — of Tell 
and Bruce — of Hampden and Sidney — and all those 
sainted martyrs, who in the dungeon — on the scaf- 
fold or on the battle field yielded up their lives in 
in the cause of Freedom^ It was the struggle of 



23 

liberty against oppression — the indefeasible rights o 
man against the despotic usurpations of man. 

The great truth which was promulgated by the 
declaration of Independence and established by the 
War of the Revolution, was that all legitimate pow- 
er resides in and is derived from the People. This 
sublime truth — to us so self-evident — so simple — 
so obvious — was before that time undeveloped in 
the history of the world. Philosophers in their 
dreams had built ideal governments; — Plato had 
luxuriated in the happiness of his fanciful Republic ; 
— Sir Thomas More had revelled in the bright 
visions of his Utopia;— the immortal Milton had 
printed his sublime views on freedom; and the 
great Locke had published his profound specula- 
tions on the true principles of government ;— but 
never — never until the establishment of American 
Independence was it acknowledged by a nation, 
and made the corner-stone and foundation of its 
government that the Sovereign Power is vested 
in the mass. It was a total revolution of all pre- 
vious poUtical theories ; the direct reverse of the 
doctrine of the Divine right of Kings to reign ; — 
an emanation from, and a constituent part of the 
principle of progress. It burst upon mankind like 
the roar of thunder in a cloudless day ; and the 
hearts of nations leapt with sympathy ; they felt 
that a hidden power had been revealed to man ; a 



24 

power destined to advance in its glorious career 
of conquest until the day when it shall spring at a 
single bound to the throne of the world. 

This fundamental principle of our Republican 
government — the sovereignty of the people — when 
analysed, resolves itself into the equal and unre- 
strained right of each individual to judge and act 
for himself in all matters of political, social and 
religious import. When each constituent member 
of the community freely and fearlessly forms and 
expresses his own opinions, and consents to be 
controlled by the general result of the opinions of 
all who are united in the same organization, we 
have a complete exemplification of the principle of 
Democracy. A community thus constituted ex- 
hibits the strongest possible contrast to that most 
accursed of all human conditions — a despotism. 
In the former, all are equal and the combined opin- 
ions of a majority control. In the latter, one alone 
controls ; all the rest are slaves. Between these 
two extremes may be arranged those governments 
in which equal political rights are partially 
extended or curtailed. But the slightest curtail- 
ment impairs the fundamental principle of Demo- 
cracy, 

Divest but a single member of this great Republic 
of his right to form and exercise his free opinion on 
all matters political and religious, and you mar the 



25 

beauty and symmetry of the system, and so far 
impair its perfection. - Entire equality — entire free- 
dom in the formation of pohtical opinions and the 
exercise of pohtical rights is the vital principle of 
our Republic. 

It is certainly true, that we are not either so 
intelligent or so virtuous that mistaken and corrupt 
opinions may not thus mingle in the control of our 
affairs. But a Democracy cannot bring to the 
administration of its affairs a greater amount of 
virtue and intelligence than is made up of the 
aggregate of its individual members. We shall 
suffer evils from ignorance and vice ; it is a condi- 
tion of our existence. 

Our government from its very constitution can 
neither be wiser nor better than ourselves, who 
control it. We may mourn over the evils which 
flow from these sources, but the only practical 
remedy is to become wiser and better. They can 
never be cured by excluding from a perfect equality 
of rights any portion of oar citizens on the ground 
of their defective intelligence or virtue, since such 
an exclusion strikes a fatal blow at the very vital 
principle which gives life to our existence as a nation. 

But while such is the simple and beautiful theory 
of our political organization the most careless 
observer may readily perceive that it is frequentlv 
departed from in p-actice. The love of domination 



26 

exists here as it ever has elsewhere. There are 
not a few theoretical democrats who daily repeat 
the maxims of equality but practically spend their 
lives in endeavouring to counteract them. To 
enumerate the various artifices by which the actual 
operation of the doctrine of equality is attempted to 
be restrained and counteracted in this country 
would lead me beyond my present design, I purpose 
to confine my remarks to a single point ; — the 
tyranny of party over the free exercise of individual 
opinion. 

Combination and association result from the 
feebleness of individual efforts. Hence spring sects 
in religion — parties in politics — combinations in 
trade — societies for social reform — and the number- 
less organizations of individuals in society to effect 
a common purpose. But every association, party, 
or sect involves some sacrifice of individual opinion. 
No two individuals are exactly alike in all their 
thoughts and opinions — preferences and motives of 
action. Even the most primitive and simple of all 
associations, that of domestic life, involves always 
the surrender of some personal preferences and 
opinions. In proportion as the number of associates 
is enlarged the sacrifices of each individual to the 
controlling opinions of the whole become greater. 
The multiplied common interests of a co-partnership 
in trade scarcely admit of a large number of 



27 

associates : while a single commercial enterprise 
may combine many persons in its interests. A 
simple and general proposition in religious truth 
may be accepted and believed by thousands : an 
extended profession of belief will find comparatively 
few to admit its various doctrines. Whole nations 
profess their faith in Christianity, but only detached 
portions can be united in a particular sect. 

Men arrange themselves in parties and sects upon 
the same principles which control the classifications 
of science. A single quality or feature may be 
found to exist in common among millions of 
particular examples ; but select all the distinguish- 
ing properties or qualities of any individual as the 
basis of classification, and the extension of the class 
will be very limited. 

A great political truth may be recognized by a 
nation, but particular theories are only maintained 
by smaller societies and parties. 

From these principles it follows, that in the 
organization of every large party there is a surren- 
dering of private opinion. The individuals which 
compose it coalesce for the maintainance of some 
great political principle, in the truth of which they 
have a common faith : on minor questions there may 
be found among them every diversity of opinion. 

To what degree this sacrifice of private opinion 
mav be carried by a conscientious man ; how far 



28 

he may properly acquiesce in the adoption 'of party 
measures which he does not approve, to secure the 
triumph of others which he beUeves to be right ; to 
what extent in his support of candidates for pubhc 
office he may disregard his own convictions of their 
unworthiness from the imperious necessity of 
combining to elevate others who are worthy, are 
questions which each freeman must settle with his 
own conscience : questions which involve the 
nicest distinctions of political ethics. 

But so far as each individual surrenders his own 
discretion to the dictates of a party, he surrenders a 
personal right ; — ceases to act upon his own 
responsibility and departs from the perfect exhibition 
of the political theory of a Democracy. So far as 
the combination of which he is a member assumes 
a control over his opinions, he is driven back from 
the freedom of an equal independent citizen and 
constrained to approach the condition of a subject 
or slave. It matters not to the public weal whether 
this freedom of individual opinion be crushed by a 
single despot or extorted by the tyranny of a 
faction or party : it is lost to the man ; and the ele- 
mentary principle of progress and freedom is equally- 
extinguished or constrained. 

The tyranny of a religious sect, or of a political 
faction, may be as injurious or intolerable, as the 
tyranny of a single monarch. Each equally in- 



29 

fringes the^fundamental principle of our Republican 
institutions ; each at times, even in our country, 
becomes oppressive and greatly injurious. 

It too often happens that an individual in the 
fervor of youth, before he is qualified to form just 
opinions upon important questions, or amid some 
great, but temporary excitement, is hurried into 
some religious sect, or some political party, the 
principles of which upon further information and 
reflection, do not receive the secret approbation of 
his conscience. From that moment he becomes a 
slave. He has assumed a character which he 
cannot reputably lay aside. He struggles in vain 
to direct his faction in accordance with his own 
convictions of right. He approves not of their acts, 
but he is made responsible for them ; he is hurried 
along with the great mass of his associates, and too 
often finds himself, by the rashness of ill-balanced 
minds, or the arts of party leaders, pledged to the 
support and vindication of men and measures, 
which he can only regard with secret disapproba- 
tion. This acquiescence is a constant violation of 
duty and of the dictates of conscience. But how 
few can command the moral courage requisite to 
break from the alliance. The very act is a con- 
fession of error — so mortifying to self-esteem. The 
motives are suspected, and the act denounced. If 
the individual diverges from a relisfious sect, the 



30 

odium of his bacskliding is fastened upon him 
forever. His departure is ascribed not to an honest 
change of behef ; but to laxness of morahty, which 
finds the restraints of a creed or sect an inconvenient 
curb upon self-indulgence. 

The assertion of indvidual opinions, in opposition 
to a political party is visited with even a severer 
punishment. The noisy mouthed leaders of faction, 
— the designing and ambitious members, — and 
even the honest believers in the repudiated, doctrine 
unite in denunciations against which no con- 
sciousness of rectitude or purity of character can 
fully afford protection. The public press — the 
official organs of the deserted faction — open their 
batteries of abuse and detraction. No respect is 
paid to the rights of the individual — to his professions 
of honesty, or to the purity of his motives. He is 
stamped as an apostate, a traitor, and without 
any examination of the grounds of his dissent, the 
foul imputation of corruption and dishonesty is fixed 
upon him by the noisy acclamations of heated and 
unreasonable partisans. 

An offence against consistency is adjudged to be 
of a more heinous character than an offence against 
conscience. An obstinate adherence to error is 
more reputable than the honest following of the 
truth. The partisan can take no steps backward ; 
even fresher and more animated displays of his 



31 

zeal are from time to time expected; a more 
unqualified defence of party men and party 
measures, or he incurs the suspicion of bad faith, 
and loses his influence and respect with his coad- 
jutors. 

The evil effects of this tyranny exercised over 
the rights of private judgment by party organiza- 
tion are the more odious and dangerous from the 
fact that the measures of the party are too often 
dictated by a few ambitious and corrupt, or [mis- 
guided leaders. There are methods of organiza- 
tion, — systems of partisan tactics, — by which the 
selfish plans of a few intriguing individuals are 
so brought forward as to secure the apparent 
approbation, and command the support of the mass 
of their associates. The tyranny is then not even 
the tyranny of a party, but the usurped dictation 
of its noisy and active leaders. These busy 
factions in every extended association too often 
monopolise the executive functions, strive to control 
the organs of publication, and by art, intrigue and 
perseverance sway the great body of their asso- 
ciates from the true objects of their voluntary 
alliance into a blind subserviency to the promotion 
of private interests. In short, the power of the party 
is wielded by a few ; the principles upon which it 
is professedly organised are really forgotten or 
neglected, and its overwhelming force is martialled 



32 

contrary to the real wishes of its constituent mem- 
bers in support of men and measures unworthy of 
the approbation ol the patriot or honest citi;zen. 
Thus is produced a sacrifice of individual opinion 
not less complete and humiliating than that which 
enfeebles and disgraces a despotism. The masses 
are in effect disfranchised. They surrender their 
free opinions, or at least, quietly suspend the exer- 
cise and expression of them. The practical opera- 
tion of the party organizations counteracts the 
fundamental axiom of our political institutions. 
Public policy is guided and public affairs are 
administered, not by the rules which result from 
the modified and combined opinions of every free- 
man ; but by the dictation of a few individuals, to 
whom party organization has given influence and 
power. The individual is crushed beneath the 
huge machinery of faction ; and every several 
instance in which this occurs is an infraction of the 
holy compact of our j^olitical association ; an inter- 
ruption of the right action of our principles of 
government, and an injury to the vital theory of 
our Republic. 

Have not the last few years of our political 
history afforded illustrations of these remarks ? 
Have we not seen whole classes of freemen yield 
up their independence of opinion to the control of 
one man, or, at the best, oi" the few who thrust 



33 

themselves forward as the leaders and organs of 
party ? Were there not periods when no one 
enrolled in the ranks of party dared to lift up his 
voice against a single party measure ? Did any one 
waver — did any one venture to dissent — to what 
an ordeal was he subjected ! All the engines of 
party assault and detraction were let loose upon 
him. An unscrupulous press led the attack, a 
thousand miscreant voices joined in the clamor. 
No act in the past life of the unfortunate dissentor 
was left undisplayed or unperverted. His social 
life, his domestic relations, his opinions, his indif- 
ferent actions, were dragged before the public 
gaze to be distorted and discolored, and himself 
was held up to the contempt and ridicule of the 
world. Thus by the tyranny of party and of the 
party press, men were forced into the support of mea- 
sures which they at first opposed with vehemence. 
I honor the public press. I consider a free press 
as the right arm of a free people : its benefits are 
unmeasured, its value incalculable ; but when it 
crosses the sacred threshold of domestic life ; when 
it enters the circle around the family altar ; when 
its power is directed against private character ; 
when it conceals or distorts the truth, or teems with 
malignant falsehood ; when its energies are made 
subservient to private ends, or personal malice ; it 
is no longer a blessing, but a curse, and becomes an 



34 

engine of corruption, not of virtue ; of despotism, 
not of freedom. Against this cruel ostracism, this 
mahgnant persecution for opinion's sake, I desiro to 
raise my voice of reprobation. It is for the. free 
formation and expression of individual opinion 
on all matters, social, civil, political, religious, 
that I plead. Let thought and the expression of it 
be as free as the unfettered wind. He that ma- 
nacles or restrains it, is an enemy to freedom, 
to truth, to human progress. Let every man 
speak out the truth that is in him. The sublime 
strength of a Republic springs from the united 
expression of its individual members ; but if the 
freedom of their thoughts be restrained, that strength 
is impaired or broken. 

I have remarked, that the peculiar strength of a 
Republic results from the union of its individual 
intelligence. The enlightened and voluntary action 
of millions of individual minds presents the most 
sublime exhibition of moral power which can exist 
among mankind. This is the mighty energy which 
has given the American People their astonishing 
developement. By this we have been able to achieve 
in half a century what has required successive 
centuries in other states. A great people animated 
by acommon impulse springing from the enlightened, 
truthful and voluntary conviction of each individual 
mind, presents a spectacle of energy and power not 



35 

to be surpassed by any possible combination of the 
human species. Strike out the voluntary action of 
one constituent member, and you impair its force ; 
extort the right of private judgment from all, 
and you produce a mass of slaves. And that dis- 
turbing cause, be it the tyranny of a monarch, the 
oppression of an oligarchy, or the dictation of a party, 
which impairs or restrains the free exercise of 
individual thought, so far as its power is felt, 
weakens the vital principle of democracy, and 
tends to establish the passive obedience of a despo- 
tism. 

But it is not merely in the full and harmonious 
display of the true principles of political liberty that 
the advantages of individual freedom of opinion are 
apparent. National progress depends mainly upon 
that freedom. A thousand active and free minds 
will advance the interests of a community a thou- 
sand fold more rapidly than the utmost activity of 
any single mind. To this source, the enlightened 
philosopher and statesman looks most confidently 
for the developement of our national glory. The 
mental excitement and activity which pervade this 
nation present a phenomenon never before beheld 
among the nations of earth. Here, if the theory of 
our government be kept in free and pure practical 
operation there can be no dormant intellect, no 
crushed and motionless ability. Every man reads 



36 

and speaks, and :ihinks. The humblest villager 
peruses his political and rehgious periodical, takes 
part in the discussions of sects and parties, and 
exercises his own judgment, and participates as he 
pleases in all passing events. He is incessantly 
impelled to exertion. Progress in wealth and 
influence is ever in his view. No man is found to 
be contented with his present condition. He is 
struggling to improve it. The most humble are 
devisinor means to add to their comfort. Villao^e 
oflSces, church preferment, military rank, increased 
wealth and comfort, are the prizes before the eyes 
of the most obscure. If not ambitious for himself, 
the father anticipates for his child a more honorable 
position in society, either among the higher pursuits 
of the mechanic arts, or the large operations ol' 
commerce, or the learned professions, or perhaps, 
the high political ojffices of his country. The com- 
munity is kept by these impulses in perpetual 
excitement, and is urged forward in a constant 
progressive movement. How far this ambitious 
and active spirit which pervades all classes is 
conducive to real happiness, whether it be not a 
foe to contentment and peace, and a fatal enemy to 
that repose which is necessary to true enjoyment, 
I shall not pause to inquire. But that our national 
progress, the improvements of the arts, the exten- 
sion of commerce, the increase of wealth, the 



37 

discoveries of science and the elevation of the mass 
of the nation are to be looked for from this 
inextinguishable restlessness and activity of indi- 
vidual minds, no reasonable man can doubt. Slaves, 
indeed, have no responsibility or care ; their minds 
are never put to the stretch, to improve their con- 
dition. An enlightened and free people must ever 
present the highest possible state of mental activity 
and exertion. 

There is another feature in our condition w^hich 
furnishes a strong reason for the free exercise of 
private judgment, and for the right to change opin- 
ions on great political measures without obloquy or 
disgrace. It is the rapidly changing condition of 
our affairs. Many leading political measures expe- 
dient at one time, and vv^hich may properly receive 
the support of a patriot, are by the rapid transition 
of the state to some new condition, rendered inex- 
pedient. 

In one stage of our progress, a National Bank or a 
certain course of fiscal policy may be highly expedient 
and proper ; while so rapid are the successive steps of 
our progress, that within the life of the same man 
the same measures may become impolitic. He who 
pledges himself blindly to any one measure and 
shuts his eyes against the changes in our national 
condition, which may modify the application and 
effect of that measure in a new order of affairs, ex- 



38 

hibits not the highest example of poUtical wisdom. 
Even whole parties, who have seized upon some 
ephemeral question as their rallying word, have, in 
our own brief history, often found themselves left 
behind by the rapid progress of the nation, and have 
served but as buoys to mark the swift advance of the 
people in political truth. 

Must parties then cease to exist!^? By no means ! 
The combination and sympathy of those who have 
common opinions and common interests, is so natural, 
powerful and useful, that the sagacious and the pa- 
triotic will never cease to resort to it. But the practi- 
cal operation of these powerful organizations must be 
carefully watched. The principles upon which they 
are united must be of the most general, unquestiona- 
ble and enlarged character. Narrow and particular 
views must never be sustained by such co-operation. 
For the establishment of some great political truth 
of vital importance to the welfare of our Nation, a 
national organization may be properly effected. 
But it should never be brought so to operate, as to 
impose restraints with regard to any subordinate 
measure, upon the individual opinions of its mem- 
bers. The free expression and exercise of indi- 
vidual opinions upon all points should be courted 
and encouraged. It is vain to expect an honest 
coincidence of sentiment among great numbers on 
other than a few unquestionable axioms of political 



39 

faith. With this union on some great general 
principle, a great party should be content ; nor 
should its influence be brought to bear upon the 
diffusion of particular views or upon those number- 
less inferior or local questions of expediency and 
interest, which are the frequent objects of political 
action. An enlarged liberality, a magnanimous 
concession to private opinions, a generous agree- 
ment to unite, so far as the union is free and conscien- 
tious, and to separate on other points without per- 
secution or reproach, should characterize every 
great party. Party drilling, party discipline, the 
cutting off" of dissentient members, and the whipping 
in of weak brethren, are among the dangerous, 
tyrannical and disgraceful abuses of party influence, 
introduced by a selfish modern school of politicians, 
and deeply hostile to the best interests of freedom. 
And even under the most jealous care to guard 
against abuses, great combinations seldom fail, at 
short intervals to become injurious to freedom. 
They often need to be resolved into their original 
elements.. Once in a few years it is both whole- 
some and expedient that a great breaking down of 
party organizations and party distinctions should 
occur, in order that associations should no longer 
preserve their forms when the objects of their 
formation have passed away ; and that men may 
be left freely to form new connections, having refer- 



40 

ence to the new questions which perpetually present 
themselves. 

I believe that such an era has now arrived. Too 
long had we already suffered from the domination 
of petty tyrants. But the bands of faction have at 
last been scattered ; a long suffering and confiding 
people have roused themselves like a strong man 
from his slumber, and shivered the shackles rivetted 
on the limbs of freemen by corrupt politicians. 
Their chariot wheels are broken, " and the horse 
and his rider are cast into the sea." A night of 
gloom will, we trust, be succeeded by a day of joy. 
May the evils of the past afford lessons for the 
future, and may the recent triumph of the popular 
will over party dictation, which we deem not un- 
worthy to be celebrated on this holy day, be as 
glorious in its emancipation of the intellect of the 
nation, as it is in the majestic tide of numbers which 
produced it. 

When the great Roman orator was driven into 
banishment, by the intrigues of the infamous Clodius, 
all Rome clad itself in mourning at the sad event. 
The citizens closed their houses and went in solemn 
processions to the Temples of the Gods, to offer up 
prayers for the safety of the Commonwealth ; for 
they felt that danger did indeed threaten the State, 
when her best citizen was forced into exile by the 
violence of faction. 



41 

But when the violence of faction was subdued, 
and the people by acclamation demanded the recall 
of the Orator, how glorious was his triumphant 
return ! Never before was so numerous and 
solemn an assembly gathered together in Italy. " It 
was considered as almost a violation of religious 
duty to be absent, and neither age nor infirmity 
was thought to be a sufficient excuse for neglecting 
to take part in the restoration of Cicero." When 
he landed at Brundusium infinite multitudes were 
drawn together to see him as he passed, and con- 
gratulate him on his return. " The road through- 
out its whole extent towards Rome was lined with 
crowds of men, women and children." Prefec- 
tures, towns, colonies, decreed him public honor, 
and sent deputations to pay him compliments. 
"That one day," he exclaims, "was worth an im- 
mortality. When on my approach towards the 
city, the Senate came out to receive me, followed 
by the whole body of the citizens ; as if Rome 
itself had left its foundations and marched forward 
to embrace its preserver," But we have seen a 
more glorious triumph than that which rewarded 
the patriotism of the illustrious Roman. He who 
was the earliest victim of that proscription which so 
lately ruled the land, is exalted by the People to 
the chair of state. Wounded by the ungrateful 
blow, and grieving for his country, the Hero and 



42 

Sage sought in the retirement of the peaceful West, 
that solace which philosophy and religion could 
afford. But the voice of millions has called him 
forth to enjoy the rewards of virtue, and to preside 
over the destinies of the Nation. How beautiful 
the story ! How sublime the moral ! Have the 
realms of fiction anything more true to poetical 
justice! He leaves the banks of the beautiful 
Ohio. Those shores which, half a century ago, he 
first visited as an humble officer in the armies of 
his country. The acclamations of multitudes greet 
him as he passes. Towns and Cities pour forth 
their population to do him honor. As he advances, 
fresh multitudes are expecting his arrival. The 
maiden and the matron come forth to meet him. 
He approaches the Metropolis. He is brought to 
the Capitol of the Nation, where sits enthroned the 
sacred majesty of the People. The reverend 
clergy, the learned judges, and the orators and 
statesmen whose fame is co-extensive with civiliza- 
tion cluster around him. How solemn the spectacle ! 
He takes the oaths of office, and is installed in the 
seat of Washington. May the precepts and the 
example of the Father of his country be his guide 
amidst the perils and difficulties which surround 
him. May his highest ambition be, to become the 
" Patriot President of a Patriot People." 



43 

For ourselves, to whom as a party the adminis- 
tration of the government is about to be committed 
may we never, as a party subject ourselves to the 
mistakes and errors, which have brought confusion 
upon our political adversaries. Much of wisdom 
may be derived from the past ; much too may we 
hope from the union of the wise and good ; much, 
from the precepts of the Fathers of the Revolution 
and their immediate successors ; and among these 
precepts are carefully to be cherished and observed 
the maxims of wisdom to which we have this day 
listened in the farewell words of the great Wash- 
ington. How clearly his sagacious mind foresaw 
the future history of his beloved country. Oh, then, 
let us often recur to this fountain of wisdom. Let 
these lessons be written in living light for the 
instruction of our children and children's children. 
Let us hold fast to them as to the pillars of our 
temporal salvation. And let us give thanks to the 
living God that he has cast our lot in a land made 
happy by his life and ennobled by his death. Like 
the great luminary of day, he stands in the moral 
firmament, single and unapproachable ; looking 
down in boundless majesty from his exalted height, 
he sheds light and heat on mankind. And like the 
same glorious orb when verging towards his rest, 



^.. 



44 

he illuminates the whole earth with all the hues of 
heaven. All nations unite in doing honor to his 
memory ; generations yet unborn shall glory in 
being of his race, and the calm lustre of his life will 
forever command the love and veneration of man- 
kind. 



<f^^ 






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